Sand Ramp

The road that goes up toward stone canyon from the north points right at the falls (before you turn around the nose of the hill to the north making the narrow spot) , "before" you go into Stone Canyon. It is the first falls to the west of the wood loading box at that little mine. I know it's hard to believe, but there it was like a thing from the middle east. There were even homes in the other part of the canyon on the Defense mine side, out of the wash, the place was trashed! Pipes all up and down lookout mountain next to the little wooden loading structure and mine. Hope this helps, wish I had had a camera!

Thanks for the story. Trying to place the exact location of this. It almost sounds like what we've called "Fall 1", and that area is now part of the wilderness. Fall Zero is the rock fall with a bypass, just before you get to the split in the road for Lookout City and the Defense Mine. Lookout City to the left and up the hill; Defense Mine to the right and up the hill. If you continued straight, you'd get to "Fall 1". Not sure if this is the same location or not.

David Bricker / SYR

So this is an old subject from 1986 and my old Yamaha YZ 250. So I was camping around new years out there and the days were short. You used to be able to ride the south playa of the Panament valley (south of the HWY.) Anyway I got sick of it and went up this trail on the other side of the road. Lots of rock up to what I now know is Stone canyon. Junk all over the place! Cars, trucks, homes, campers, just everything shot to shit. There was a power line too, but clearly shot up too. WOW, have check this out. So I ride up the canyon on a wide road at the base of this big moutain (lookout.) Pipes and gen sets, mines all over the place.....and a road I can see that looks new from the bottom of the moutain. Something up there! so I follow this road to a bunch of police tape, old blown out stuff, can`t read it, but hey so what (must be a long time ago.) The road goes up next to this cliff and water fall, a ramp of stone and gravel....with a big lip at the top. So what, I ride every day I can at this time, why not. Third gear, second, first, up I go. No, fail. back down I have to turn, steep as hell. I start farther back, faster, and make it over the lip into the hanging canyon, at the top of the water fall. Not ready for what I see, trees. No really there were trees below the Modoc mine, a lot, some tall. The road at the top of the falls is made of sand and sliding into a pond. Huge cracks, tons of sand all bending the trees over and clearly not to be walked on. Oh, that was what the police were up about! so I rode along the edge , on the dirt of the mountain, a trail two hands wide. It was quite a way up to the top, rocky up farther near the top.
I rode around the top for sometime but it started to get dark, so low on fuel and light, I went back down the dam thing!
I remember using 4 gear and jumping down the lip of the falls on to the lower ramp(30 mph). Almost hit some dam chicken coop at the bottom as the run out was... a bit long.

That was fun. Last year I went up to the bottom were the ramp was....gone, everything, all of it. The homes, the cars, the pumps, the trash. I was walking this time, so never made the top. Maybe with the jeep next time.
Just thought I`d share my sand ramp story, don't tell the police on me now.
Chris